On the Tuesday afternoon conference call announcing Tulane’s entrance into the Big East Conference, after university president Scott Cowen and Big East commissioner Mike Aresco and Tulane athletics director Rick Dickson all got the chance to say lovely things about their new association, the moderator came on the line and announced that any media members with questions should press *1 on their telephone keypads.

That’s how these things are done, all the time. I know the drill by now. So I looked at my iPhone and waited several seconds before pressing my digits. It was not my desire to come roaring out of the box with a simple question that was sure to tone down the mood a few notches, from Mardi Gras celebration toward New Orleans street funeral.

I was only too pleased to wait my turn. Perhaps everyone else had the same idea. Because the first person summoned to ask a question was me, and so I had little choice but to commence the questioning by mentioning Tulane’s recent struggles on the field and in the stands—in the major sports of football and basketball—and thus what appeal did the Green Wave have for the Big East?

In other words: Why?

“The future for Tulane athletics is incredibly bright,” Aresco answered. “It’s a great institution. It’s making a real commitment to its athletic program. In addition to a conference of accomplishment, we’re a conference of opportunity and potential. What we’ve found in the past, anytime a school like Tulane joins a conference like the Big East, it elevates its program. It benefits and that benefits, also, the conference.”

This was precisely the kind of smart, adroit response we might have expected of Aresco: Talk about the future, point out how programs such as Cincinnati and Louisville were accelerated by membership in the Big East, and of course work in that the university being added is one of the elite in the nation.

But it didn’t address the reality that Tulane’s teams have been lousy—even in Conference USA, a decidedly lesser league—and that too few in the New Orleans community ever have really cared, one way or the other.

Thus Cowen did take it upon himself to interject that Tulane’s teams haven’t always struggled to the degree they have recently.

“In the decade prior to Katrina, Tulane won more conference titles in Conference USA than any other school,” Cowan said. “We had several teams that went to bowls, and one that was undefeated and ranked in the top 10. We have had a tradition of winning in all sports.”

He mentioned the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, explaining it took three years for Tulane “to fully recover” from a financial and academic standpoint.

“Once we did recover financially and academically, we invested very heavily in athletics again,” he said. “We believe we have demonstrated the commitment, have shown athletic excellence in the past and will be able to continue that excellence into the future.”

This is, as well, what we would expect from the proud president of an esteemed institution of higher learning: Cite the challenges overcome, accentuate the positive, promise a better future.

Know this about the Big East’s decision: It was not unanimous. There was dissension among the current members discussing the move, and it was vehement. How widespread it might have been isn’t certain, although it is hard to figure how anyone was convinced to vote in favor.

Cowen’s statistic regarding Tulane’s C-USA championships in the decade prior to the hurricane makes for a nice resume item, but the honest truth is no league is making membership decisions based on the baseball team. It’s primarily about football and, since we’re talking Big East, also a good bit about hoops.

Katrina was devastating on so many levels, and its impact on Tulane cannot be overstated. The Green Wave’s recent struggles to excel athletically and attract fans to games certainly were exacerbated by the disaster, but it’s a stretch to say they were caused by what occurred just as school opened its fall term in 2005.

In the five years before, Tulane football’s average record was 5-6, even though future pros J.P. Losman and Mewelde Moore went through the program during that period. The basketball program was even worse, posting four consecutive losing seasons and an average record of 12-17. The Green Wave haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1995.

However admirably Tulane has rebuilt itself in the aftermath of Katrina, its city feels about the same toward its athletic programs now as it did previously. The Green Wave were announcing football crowds in the 25,000 range in the three years before, and in the past three years it’s been in the 20,000 neighborhood. The basketball team has been playing to crowds of 2,200 or less in Fogelman Arena, which can’t be deemed obsolete as a major basketball venue because it never was suitable.

Now, Tulane promises to play more regularly at the 18,500-seat New Orleans Arena, home of the NBA’s Hornets. It certainly can’t be to accommodate the demand for tickets. It’s essentially to keep everybody from being embarrassed at the mess.

In making his remarks about the future of the Big East, Aresco repeated on a few occasions his contention that the conference is “top-to-bottom” the best in college basketball. Once again, it was the kind of thing someone in his position would be expected to say. With SMU, Central Florida, Houston and now Tulane on the way, he’s got to get it out there while it’s still true.